Australia must use long off-season to revive its fortunes: Clarke

Australian captain Michael Clarke has said his team must use the long off-season break as a launch pad for returning to the top of world cricket.

Australian players now have a break until August, when they tour Sri Lanka for Tests and one-dayers, before touring South Africa and hosting India and New Zealand.

Clarke said players needed to use the four-month break to prepare mentally and physically for the team's climb back to the powerhouse status in all forms of the game.

"I've said all along, every day we get out of bed, we've got to look to get better, and this break we have now is no different," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, as saying.

"You have time off, but you've got to get yourself fit and strong and get rid of all the niggles that blokes have in their bodies and get ready for what's going to be another big 12 months coming up," he said.

Clarke took several positives from the Bangladesh series in which an Australian scored a century in each match - first the skipper himself, then Shane Watson, then Mike Hussey.